New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts
No light was shed on the hopes of Patriots fans the morning after the crushing defeat by the Colts. As after the shocking loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl 42, Patriot Nation woke up disillusioned.
The daunting truth is: it did. The reality was the Patriots actually blew a 31-14 fourth-quarter lead against the Colts Sunday night in Indianapolis. Several miscues contributed to the late fourth quarter demise, but none were more controversial or prevalent as Coach Belichick’s decision to go for a first down on fourth and two from the Pariots own twenty-eight yard line. At the time, the Patriots were only leading by six points with two minutes and eight seconds to go in the game.
There are many New England Patriots football fans that support Belichick no matter what kind of decisions he makes on the football field. But after that disaster of a loss at Lucas Oil Can Boyd Stadium, some fans were dismayed and upset at the coach for losing a game in the NFL rivalry of the decade.
On the Monday after the game, Belichick addressed those critiques and assured disappointed fans that his call to go for a first down was not a game time or situational decision: “[We] were going to go [on fourth down] right from the start; Tom and the coaching staff discussed this and we wanted to keep the ball out of Manning as much as we could.” This plan of action makes sense, taking into account the fact that the Colts have one of the most high powered offenses in the league. Putting the ball into the hands of potential MVP candidate Peyton Manning’s hands often spells disaster.
After Belichick made these remarks, his quarterback Tom Brady immediately backed him in the following press conference. Since then, other players have come out and supported their coach’s decision.
Fortunately, the game versus the Colts has no AC East Divisional implications and the Pats are still sitting pretty with a 4-1 record in the division. Although if the Patriots reach the AFC Championship game and play the Colts, the game will be in Indy at Lucas Oil Can Boyd Stadium because of the home field advantage tiebreakers.
Let us hope if that is the scenario, then we punt on fourth and two.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
